Wolves and Witches
by Invader-Hime
Summary: Fantasy AU. A cursed child is born in a gypsy camp. At fourteen, he runs away and finds himself rescued by a certain red headed witch in training. Gwevin.
1. The Mongrel

Wolves and Witches

By Chibi Hime

Author's Note: This is written for Karashi's Gwevin contest over on DeviantArt. Tis is a two parter, but I have no idea when I'll do part 2...other than before September XD It is a redo of her fic, To Grandmother's House, an AU Little Red Riding Hood. GO READ IT! AND ALL HER OTHER GWEVIN FICS. They are made of pure awesome. Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action.

Part 1: The Mongrel

The tale began on a summer evening. Fireflies flickered about the field where the young gypsy girl and her lover scampered, sending up swarms of insects and dandelion puffs. The girl ran ahead, her dark, ebony hair bouncing as she laughed in delight. Her pale lover grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. They teetered off-balance, drunk on love, but the spirits didn't hurt either. The two fell to the ground in a series of giggles that led to tickling that led to touching, kissing, groping...and inevitably, something else.

The two lay in each others arms, the frog songs echoing around them.

The young man promised the young lady that he loved her, that no matter what happened, he would always be there to protect her. He spoke of happily ever afters and many other wonderful things and, as such foolish young lovers will, their summer was full of happiness and lovemaking. Also, as such things go, the young man vanished at the end of the summer. Heartbroken, the young lady was left to mourn his departure...but she was not left alone.

Her summer of happiness ended with sorrow and despair. As the months went by, she felt the tiny life within her growing and she longed for her lover once more, convinced that he would return if he knew of their child. So she set out in the cold of the winter months to find him.

Now, here people believed in the spirits and the old ways. All the wise men and women of their camp warned her against this at this most joyous time of year. They believed that is an unwanted, unborn child could be influenced by outside sources and if it was denied by either of its parents near the birth of the Lord, the consequences could be dire, the child would be cursed. But, blinded by love, the girl did not believe the superstitions and pressed on without the consent of her family, who were already leery about having an illegitimate child of mixed blood in their family as it was.

The girl managed to find her lover, by pure coincidence alone, outside of a church. She approached him, telling him how much she still loved him and, having been missing him terribly, had set out to find him. Taking his hand and pressing it against her swollen belly, she told him about all the beautiful things he had said and promised.

The young man, on the other hand, felt none of her joy and happiness. Rather, upon feeling the thing in her belly move, he felt an abject repulsion for the being within her. He denied ever having said anything remotely like his pretty promises and openly denounced the poor girl. With everyone around staring at her, she felt ashamed and asked the young man, once more, if he would keep his promises and love her forever...her and their beautiful child.

The young man denied her again. This time speaking the most horrible words she could have imagined.

"I want nothing to do with you or that heathen in your womb. It isn't mine, that is for certain. No child of mine is going to be born a mongrel freak. I owe you nothing, you little harlot. I don't owe that thing...that unlovable infection you call a child anything,"

As soon as he finished, the gypsy girl found herself wracked with a series of horrible, shredding pains. Her delicate brown hands flew to her stomach and her eyes filed with tears as she fell to her knees. The young man disappeared into the holiday throngs of people. Too late, she realized her family's legends were true. It was all her fault. If only she had stayed with them...none of this would have happened. The child within her thrashed and twisted in agony.

No...no it wasn't supposed to go like this...he was supposed to love her...them. Not deny them. Not condemn their child to a cursed life, whatever that meant anyway. The pains quickly subsided and the child calmed down. Broken hearted and defeated, she returned home. She told no one of her encounter with the young man. She simply said that she was unable to find him. As she lied, she felt the infant in her womb struggle, as if reprimanding her for her lie.

The remaining months passed uneventfully and the girl soon began to wonder if any of the legends about the curse were even true. There had been no truly dramatic changes. Every four to five weeks, she would experience strange sensations of the child moving about more than usual, but that was not entirely unheard of either.

When at last the time of the child's birth came, it was a bright spring afternoon. The pain and strain were enormous, but not drawn out. By the time the sky was darkening, the child was wrapped in a blanket and put in a small cradle beside her bed. Her grandmother, a wizened midwife had not said a word before doing so. She had quickly wrapped the child up and kept her mouth shut. When the young girl asked to see her son, the old woman looked up at her with such pity and sadness that the new mother felt fear grip at her chest. Forgetting her own exhaustion, she threw herself to the side of the bed and reached, with desperate fingers for the cloth wrapped around her infant's face. What lay beneath the blanket took her breath away. There, where a soft, pink human child should be was a small, black furred wolf pup. However, there was another surprise was in store. As soon as the sun disappeared and the full moon began to rise, a peculiar transformation overcame the infant and it yipped in confused pain. When it was over, a pale, dark haired baby boy lay in the wolf's place.

Overjoyed, his mother swept him into her arms and held him lovingly to her breast. Her family rejoiced with her, naming the child Kevin, the "handsome one". Their joy was short lived, for when the sun rose and the golden light touched little Kevin's newborn cheeks, the child cried out as once again, its form shifted back to that of a tiny wolf pup.

So it was for the next fourteen years of his life. Every full moon, the wolf boy was able to assume his human form, only to lose it again the following morning. While his mother loved him dearly and his great grandmother taught him all there was to know about their part of the world, he couldn't help but feel isolated. His mind was terribly quick and it frustrated him that he was behind in his speech and pronunciation. Even at fourteen, he had difficulty saying certain words and meaning others. As such, none of the other children would speak with him, as they felt he was an idiot even when he was human. During the days, he would receive stares from everyone. Kevin became very withdrawn from the world, no matter what form he was in. It only grew worse when his great grandmother died, leaving Kevin and his mother alone. Kevin would whimper as he saw others playing or talking. Whenever he would attempt to join them, he would be either run off or completely ignored. His mother would comfort him and tell him it was their fault and not his.

Kevin didn't believe her. No one else changed from human to wolf. They were human all the time. Kevin wasn't. He was a wolf most of the time. He often wondered which he really was. While his mind was quick, no one save for his mother and great grandmother ever knew or cared. While he thought like a boy, he looked and moved like a wolf. He could understand speech, but only speak himself one night...maybe two a month. Kevin also noticed that his mother seemed to be almost as much an outcast as him. While she denied up and down that it had nothing to do with him, the poor wolf child didn't believe her. It was his fault and he knew it.

One night, while the full moon shone brightly in the sky, Kevin sat reading from his lesson book while his mother sewed outside their tent. Three men from their camp approached her and whispered something quietly to her. Kevin frowned, wishing he had his daylight hearing abilities, especially when his mother slapped one of them.

"I'll do no such thing!" she shouted, extremely upset.

"Why? People would pay a lot of money to see...well, what he does. Besides, with him around, you get the lowest cut. You could really make some money that you need," another man spoke louder than the other two.

Kevin saw his mother slap him as well.

"I won't subject my child to such humiliation! You can forget it!" she snarled, baring her teeth.

Kevin smiled to himself. They were a lot alike after all.

The men shrugged and left them in peace once more.

Thinking nothing more of the incident, Kevin walked off into the nearby forest. He wandered for hours, humming to himself. When purple light began to appear in the eastern sky, the boy began to head home. As soon as he reached the edge of camp, he was set upon by the three men from earlier. Oh what he would have given to have his teeth and claws then! The strength of the three grown men easily overpowered the boy and dragged him away to another, larger tent where there were at least ten pale faced strangers. One of which was a boy his own age with golden hair and piercing blue eyes. Those eyes watched keenly as the adults tore the shirt from Kevin's back and threw him on the floor.

The poor wolf boy had no idea what cruelty they planned to spring on him, but he got up and tried once again to escape them. However, the blonde haired boy tripped him and once again, Kevin was thrown back to the center of the tent with all kinds of prying eyes staring at him with malicious glee. What were they all looking at him for?

One of the men threw open the tent flap and a few golden rays of sunlight shown in. It was then that Kevin realized the humiliation he was about to go through. They wanted to watch. Those sick, sick people. These complete strangers wanted to watch him transform. He wouldn't do it.

Unfortunately, he didn't have a say in the matter.

That pair of fierce blue eyes lit up with excitement when the first bone snap was heard. Unable to alter a fate that had been thrust upon him, the poor boy had no choice but to endure this new kind of torture. It was the most horrible feeling in the world, to be watched by all those strange eyes...by these people with such a macabre fancy. Didn't they understand how shameful it was? How humiliating to have one's warping flesh on display? The worst of all was that blonde boy. While some looked away , he never did. Kevin felt those terrible eyes on him the whole time. Those blue eyes were on him when his teeth turned to fangs, when his fur returned, when his tail sprouted, when his hands became paws, and his cries of pain became snarls and growls.

After the transformation was complete and he was once again a wolf, the spectators wanted to prove the spectacle had indeed been real. With intruding hands, they began to paw and pull at him.

Shaken out of his mind and consumed by rage and shame, the wolf boy slashed at them with angry claws and tore with teeth that were tainted with embarrassment. He managed to get one of the men who had kidnapped him by the wrist. With a sharp clamp of his jaws, he snapped the man's arm. With a tug fueled by all he had endured, he yanked the man's arm off. There were countless screams when the shower of blood became apparent. Without thinking twice, Kevin fled.

On his four powerful legs, he sped away into the morning sun, He ran as fast as his large paws would carry him. Away from all those staring eyes and prying touches. Away from those people and their cruelty. Away from his mother who had suffered so much on his account. He raced until his legs could carry him no more and the exhausted wolf boy collapsed.

Unfortunately, he collapsed directly into a bear trap that snapped his foot in its cruel jaws.

No matter how hard the poor boy pulled, he found he could not remove his foot from the trap. Exhausted, he fell down in despair. He lay there in the strange forest for the rest of the day and night.

That was precisely where the girl found him the next morning.

End of Part 1.


	2. The Witch

Wolves and Witches

By Chibi Hime

AN: Part 2 of 3 (I decided to make it a 3 parter ) for Karashi's Gwevin contest on Deviantart. Ben 10 belongs to Man of Action/Cartoon Network. To Grandmother's House belongs to Karashi and this AU belongs to me XD.

Part 2: The Witch

Gwen squealed as she felt the brown spider's little feet crawl up her arm.

"Easy, Gwen, it can't help being ugly," Verdona's wise, yet somehow youthful voice reassured her granddaughter.

Gwen's emerald eyes lit up and she smiled.

"It isn't that Grandma Verdona. He tickles," she said happily.

The older witch smiled down at her apprentice.

"This is true," she said calmly.

Gwen looked around her quickly. Her grandmother's warm cottage smelled like Rosemary and Sage with a hint of Cinnamon. All sorts of magical herbs and ingredients filled the shelves and handmade decorations and charms to ward off bad spirits hung in every corner. It was Grandmother's House, after all. Safe, soft and protective.

"Alright, Gwen dear, do like we practiced," Verdona said, wiping her hands on her apron and straightening her skirt.

Gwen nodded. With a few arcane words, she doubled the spider's size. It looked up at her curiously before leaping off her arm and crawling up the wall to the rafters. Gwen frowned.

"I was supposed to triple its size," she said, slightly disappointed.

"Relax, Kiddo. When I was your age, I could hardly handle that spell," Verdona patted her shoulder reassuringly.

Gwen smiled.

"Hey, why don't you head outside and gather me up some mushrooms. The little purple ones with the spots. It'll make a mean love potion," her grandmother said, winking.

Gwen rolled her eyes and brushed a loose bit of her short orange hair behind her ear.

"Grandma Verdona, there's no such thing as a real love potion. Only infatuation draughts and frankly, there's no one around I'd want to use them on,"

"What about that Morningstar boy? He's a handsome little thing," Verdona said smiling.

"I guess, but he's...I don't know. He's not my type at all. Besides, he is away at boarding school for the next two years a few counties over," Gwen said flatly.

"Maybe so, but you still need practice. You don't have to use it, just make it," her grandmother winked, handing the younger girl a large basket and practically shoving her out the door.

Gwen paused a moment to consider where she was going.

With a sigh, she headed off into the forest.

It was a bright, warm morning. Sunlight shone in beams through the thick trees and birds sang overhead. Gwen walked on, managing to find the ingredients she needed without much fuss. As she was reaching the edge of the forest, she heard a loud snap. When she went to investigate, she found a trap had been sprung by a passing rabbit. The poor creature was dead now, crushed by the cruel metal jaws. Frowning, Gwen opened the trap, put the rabbit in the basket and used her magic to turn the trap into an interesting piece of statuary. She groaned. Poaching. This was her grandmother's forest and poaching wasn't supposed to be allowed. It made her wonder if there were any more traps and therefore, any more trapped animals.

Indeed there were.

Gwen found several more snared birds, which she released, and in the distance, she could see a small, black furred form in the green underbrush. The closer she got, she believed she was looking at a wolf.

The black wolf appeared to be sleeping in plain sight in broad daylight. It was a small, slender creature that lay on its side in the tall grass. Puzzled, Gwen quietly approached and watched for several long moments before easing forward. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw what held him. A steel trap had embedded itself into his front right paw. The grass surrounding the poor creature was covered with little red specks that revealed what a struggle he had put up to try to escape. Carefully, the little witch girl eased the release open and the wolf's bloodied paw fell limply out. With hands trained to be gentle for magic, Gwen placed her hands around the wound.

In a dark flash, the wolf awoke, brown eyes blazing and it spun around, sinking its teeth into her wrist. Gwen gasped, but didn't scream. She bit her lip to hold back her cry of surprised pain. She saw the pitiful little wolf shaking.

He couldn't help himself. When he felt those hands on his injured foot, all he remembered were those terrible, groping, grabbing, tugging hands from the night before. He could see those cruel blue eyes leering at him, always staring, never looking away. While some people had looked away, that pair of blue eyes never did. They had been sure to get their money's worth. They were cold, cruel, and sadistic. They enjoyed what they saw. Kevin couldn't stand it.

_Let me go! Leave me alone! Don't Look At Me!_ his mind screamed.

The little witch held tight to the wolf and petted him reassuringly. She felt him shivering in her grasp. Slowly, Kevin eased his jaws off of her arm, his heart pounding against his ribcage in outright terror. He tried to stand, but fell the instant he put weight on his injured leg. With a yelp of pain, he stumbled forward, glad for once that his cheeks were covered with fur to hide their embarrassed blush. Those little hands stroked his face and a series of kind words came from the mouth of the red head. Pulling his legs and tail to himself, the wolf boy whimpered. The girl, bleeding from where he had bitten her, picked his head up and placed it in her lap.

"You don't have to be afraid of me. I am going to help you," she said softly.

Her words were so sweet they could have touched the heart of the most cruel of men, so, for the lost, frightened, and wounded boy, they were the most welcome he had ever heard in his life. He trusted her...he...

When she tried to pick him up, Kevin remembered walking home, minding his own business...then being grabbed from behind, lifted and held tightly against his will...

Without meaning to, he slashed at the girl with sharp claws. She shrieked and let him go. Kevin hit the ground and had the air knocked out of him. He didn't bother trying to get up. He just lay there and whimpered.

"I am going to pick you up and take you to my grandma's. We'll help you. I just need to carry you there," Gwen explained, easing her arms under and around the wolf's slight frame slowly and easing him up.

Though it took a lot of resting and balancing, Gwen finally managed to get both herself and her newly adopted charge back to Verdona's cottage.

The older witch was none too pleased at what her granddaughter had with her.

Verdona sensed what exactly Gwen had brought into her cottage the instant she opened the door. However, the older witch felt her heart jump to her throat when she saw the dried blood along her granddaughter's wrist.

"Did he bite you, Gwen? Did he? Did he bite you?" her voice was manic as she seized Gwen's arm in her hands and pulled the skin taut, looking for the teeth marks.

Gwen thought that bringing in a wolf would be more exciting than the little bite he had given her. It wasn't nearly as bad as it looked. A little magic and it would be gone the next day. What was the big deal?

"Yeah...so? It wasn't bad. He was just scared. It was my fault. I touched him while he was sleeping,"

Verdona looked like she was about to cry.

"Do you realize what he could have done? What he is?"

Gwen blinked.

"A wolf?" she asked.

Verdona almost slapped her. She had thought Gwen would be able to recognize a werewolf from a mile away. Still...she supposed he was awfully small. He really didn't look anything like the hulking beasts that were pictured in the magic books Gwen had been studying. Without another word, Verdona seized the wolf out of Gwen's arms and stuck a finger against his neck. Using her aura, she felt around. Curses like this were spread through hate. If he hated the curse he was under, his bite would only spread it to others. Verdona paused. He didn't seem to hate that at all. The only hate she could find was targeted at outside sources. He hated people and things, not his curse. It was almost as if he didn't realize he was cursed at all. His bite was harmless. He could have bitten either of them a hundred times and all it would have done would leave teeth marks. With a sigh of relief, Verdona channeled her aura to see what was wrong with her furry, unconventional house guest.

"Dehydrated, Exhausted, Hungry and an injured front leg. He's a wee bit heartsick too. That's my diagnosis," the witch said.

She was about to order her granddaughter about when she realized Gwen had already retrieved all the supplies she needed and was already doctoring the poor wolf boy right under her nose. Gwen's hands were careful and soft with him, gentle and reassuring. She washed his wound and bandaged it, placing healing herbs in a compress around it. She poured water down his throat and rocked him in her arms until his ears twitched in a dream. Verdona smiled and left her granddaughter to care for their houseguest. She wondered if Gwen's interest would wane as the hours turned into days and later, into weeks.

It did not.

Gwen had taken an instant liking to their little visitor. She would spend hours holding his head, petting him, talking to him and changing his bandages. The little witch would wash his blankets and bring him fresh meat from her own house every day. Verdona had to admire how her granddaughter had stepped up to care for her charge and often wondered if Gwen knew exactly what she was dealing with.

After a week or so, Verdona had noticed improvement. The first few days had taken care of any physical ailments the little creature had, but she found he needed more time to heal something that didn't have to do with his injuries. Gwen seemed to do that, bit by bit, with her constant care and affection. Still, Verdona couldn't help but look forward to the next full moon. There was a lot she wanted to find out about their visitor, especially regarding his uniquely reversed condition. When the night had at last come, the older witch had been sure to gather up some of her children's old clothes and have them pressed and ready. The wolf boy had seemingly disappeared, but Verdona overheard some rustling from the storeroom and nodded knowingly.

Verdona opened the door and entered the storeroom. She looked around and found her guest curled, naked, in a ball in the corner. The boy had his knees pulled up to his chin and his uninjured hand covered the still forming band of scar tissue on the other. The witch walked over with a small pile of clothes and sat down next to him.

He was a slight young man, even without fur. His eyes looked up at her, nervous, as if half expecting she would respond violently to his presence.

Verdona smiled.

"It is alright, hun. What kind of witch would I be if I didn't recognize one of your sort the instant I saw you. Here, I brought you some clothes,"

He accepted them and uttered a somewhat slurred "thank you". At first, the witch thought it was him just being nervous, however, she found herself realizing it was part of his diction. He had a strange, foreign accent that, when combined with his rare occasion for speech, gave him a peculiar dialect that seemed to annoy him at times when he couldn't say what he meant.

After her was dressed and seated at the kitchen table, when she asked him about the conditions of his curse, he seemed to not understand what the witch was talking about. It was as if he truly didn't understand what he was.

"So, you are telling me your mother never told you that you were cursed?" Verdona asked, a bit more accusingly than she meant to.

Kevin seemed to glare at her momentarily.

"No," he answered simply, with no inclination that he was going to elaborate.

"You don't like to talk much, do you?" she asked.

"Why should I? Nobody ever listened,"

Nobody ever wanted to.

_Because you talk funny. Because you aren't like them. You must be stupid._

_That makes it alright for us to do whatever we want._

Kevin's fist clenched as he remembered all the reasons others had refused to be associated with him over the years.

"Come now, boy. There must be someone out there who can understand you and your condition," Verdona said calmly, pouring herself and her guest a cup of tea.

"No. No there isn't. No There are only those who haven't had the chance to poke and prod me yet. I'm a curiosity, that's all. They can't see me like I am," Kevin said, his voice sounding heavy and miserable. Things, feelings and emotions were so pure in his head, that every time he tried to articulate them, it came off sounding bulky and wrong.

Verdona sighed and handed him the cup of tea she had poured him.

"Poor little fuzzball. What happened to you that made you feel that way?" the older woman asked.

Kevin looked down at his reflection in the teacup. How could he explain it to someone who didn't know what it felt like? Someone whose body never changed and was free to do and go and speak as they pleased at any time? To be as they were all the time? The face he had now...his face, didn't even feel like his, he saw it so rarely.

He was about to tell her about how he had been kidnapped when suddenly...

There was a loud series of crashes from the closet.

Kevin looked up as Verdona yanked it open.

There under a pile of tipped over pots, pans, and assorted herbs was Gwen. Her bright green eyes looked beyond her grandmother and stared at Kevin in wonder. The girl's stare made him feel uncomfortable. He pulled the dark shirt he had on up, even though it did nothing to cover any more skin.

"Gwen, it isn't polite to stare, dear," Verdona reprimanded softly.

Gwen paled and bowed her head.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly, avoiding eye contact with Kevin.

He frowned, but turned his attention to Verdona, who constantly talked about her skills as a witch and how she had recognized Kevin as human as soon as Gwen had pulled him in. Kevin kept looking in Gwen's direction, but every time he did so, he found that she was looking down at the floor nervously.

After the old woman had gone to bed, the two teenagers were left in each other's company. Kevin had no idea how to act around Gwen and found he didn't have anything to say to her. It wasn't that he didn't like her. He'd grown very fond of her over the last few weeks. It was she who had found him, taken him to her grandmother's house and spent days nursing him back to health. It was just that for the past few weeks, she had known him as a wounded animal and not as...whatever he was. Kevin had no idea how she would take that. He didn't know how anyone would take it. Everyone in his camp had always known about him, even before he did.

"I won't ever watch," Gwen said suddenly.

Kevin started and looked at her.

"Not if you don't want me to. Not if it hurts you," Gwen finished, turning away from him and blushing slightly.

Kevin looked her up and down with his earth toned eyes. She cast him a quick glance with her emerald ones before taking his hand in hers. Kevin started, not accustomed to anyone going out of their way to touch him when he wasn't furry. Not that he minded, most of the time. But...but Gwen's hand was different. It was soft without being weak, it held without making it feel like he was trapped.

"It was wrong what they did. They didn't have any right at all," Gwen said with tears in her eyes.

"Wha-?" Kevin started.

Gwen sniffed.

"Why you ran away. How you came to be here in the first place,"

Kevin's face paled.

"How?" he asked.

"When you were asleep. When I first brought you home...I didn't mean to, I swear, but Grandma is always having me practice my dream seeing. I didn't know. I mean, I thought you were chasing a rabbit or something the way you were thrashing around. But when I looked in your head...it was just terrible. I pulled out and never did it again, but...but,"

"You knew?" Kevin asked.

Gwen bit her lower lip and nodded.

"But that's okay. I mean. I like you the way you are. You're really helpful. I've enjoyed having you around these past few weeks," Gwen said quickly.

Kevin sighed. It was actually a relief that Gwen had already known. It actually explained a lot of things.

And thus, did things carry on in much the same way for two and a half years.

Kevin found himself not minding if he spent the rest of his days with the two witches...Gwen in particular. He would walk with her anywhere and none of the beasts of the forest or the town lowlifes would bother her. He used his sense of smell to find her all the ingredients she ever needed...and some she didn't know grew in the forest. He guarded the house while the two women slept and all manner of other tasks they managed to come up with for him. While his thoughts did often bring up his mother, he enjoyed being with the witches and, with the exception of his mother, found he did not miss his old life at all.

When he had arrived, he had been worse for wear, scraggly from travel and skinny from not really knowing what to do with himself. Over the past two years, he had built himself up and was now slightly more muscular, in either of his forms. As a wolf, his coat was full and healthy, as a young man, he was broad shouldered and roguishly handsome, though he would never admit it.

All proceeded well until one day, on the way back to the woods from delivering a bottled elixir to a customer, the not so little witch and her lupine companion came across a golden haired young man who blocked their path. Gwen no longer feared anyone, so long as Kevin was with her, and spoke up.

"Good Day, Mike Morningstar," she said clearly, but not very welcoming.

The Morningstar youth seemed to ignore her comment and took a keen interest in her wolfish companion.

"I said Good Day!" Gwen said somewhat loudly.

"Nice dog. Is he yours?" Mike asked smugly.

Gwen heard Kevin snarl behind her. She quickly touched his head with her slim hand.

"No. He's his own. He just stays with me," Gwen said quickly.

"How long?" the blonde asked.

Gwen swallowed.

"Going on five years now. Why?" she lied hastily.

Mike leaned over so he could look her companion in the eye. Those icy blue eyes felt like they were digging into Kevin, looking for some hint that revealed something other than the animal companion of a witch in training. Kevin tried to look blankly forward. He swallowed his pride and pretended to paw at Mike the way he had seen common dogs do. He whimpered slightly. Mike smiled and ruffled the wolf boy's fur on his head. Kevin fought back the urge to bite him.

"Five years? I don't remember seeing him before I went off to boarding school. Though that does remind me, I've been looking for a murderer," Mike said cooly, keeping his eyes on Kevin, never looking away.

"A murderer?" Gwen asked.

Mike nodded, still not looking at her.

"Yes. A mad wolf tore the arm off of a gypsy two years ago. The poor man bled to death. They've been offering a nice reward for the beast's pelt and I aim to claim it,"

"What are you going to do with a reward? You are loaded," Gwen frowned.

Mike laughed.

"I'm not doing it for the reward. It is my civic duty. I have to help the little people as much as I can. We can't have monsters like that running loose and wild," the boy said smiling, still looking at Kevin with those horrible, unblinking blue eyes.

Kevin felt his fur bristle slightly and he stepped closer to Gwen. Mike raised a golden eyebrow.

"As a matter of fact, your little friend looks an awful lot like-"

"Well, he's NOT!" Gwen shouted and shoved Mike back.

The young man fell backward and landed painfully on his tailbone. He winced.

Gwen fiercely put her hands on her hips.

"You leave him alone! Don't even joke about him, Mike Morningstar! If you do, you'll have to answer to me!" Gwen said, rolling up her blue sleeves and straightening her skirt.

The blonde boy saw no point in arguing the point. He couldn't win. Not with the little witch glaring at him like that and not with her wolfish dog bristling and baring its teeth at him. So instead, he shrugged.

"Okay, fine. Sure. I'll see you around," he said, backing up slowly and continuing on his way.

Kevin growled low in his throat. He felt Gwen rub a reassuring hand on the back of his neck.

"Don't pay attention to him. He's just a spoiled Daddy's boy. That's all," Gwen sniffed.

Kevin flattened his ears and whimpered slightly. Gwen's voice sounded like it was cracking. Without warning, the witch collapsed to her knees and she threw her arms around the wolf's neck.

"I just don't know what I'd do without you. I don't want you to ever go away! Do you understand? I like you just the way you are," Gwen sobbed. her hot tears falling on the wolf's ebon fur.

The wolf boy was once again frustrated by his inability to use words precisely when he wanted to.

_I know! I've always known! I don't want to go away either! I want to stay with you! Always!_

That's what his mind said.

All he could manage was a series of emphatic whimpers. He buried his furry head against her shoulder and nuzzled her there. The not so little witch smiled and hugged him tighter.

"That's good to know," she sniffed lightly.

Kevin's brown eyes shot open and he looked up at her questioningly.

Gwen just smiled and ruffled the fur on his head.

"Come on, let's go home," Gwen motioned towards the familiar path that led into the woods to her grandmother's sweet scented cottage.

With a yip and a bob on Kevin's part, the two of them headed off into the forest.


	3. The End

Wolves and Witches

Part 3: The End

By Chibi Hime

The elder Morningstar couldn't wait for his son to come home from boarding school. He missed his son dearly over the past few years and found himself longing to see his child more so than ever before. Distressed, the man had gone for a walk to clear his head.

It had been a crisp, autumn day, with the nip of winter in the air, but the golden colors of autumn still present. On the path to the village, he had encountered a strange black wolf. It was boldly following a human road in the daylight hours. It trotted along over the dip in the road and froze upon seeing him. The man had stood staring, transfixed by the creature. There was something about it...something familiar that tugged at him, yet for his life, he could not place what it was. His heart went out to it and he wanted nothing more than to throw his arms around the great creature's neck and hug its warm fur close to him. It had stood there staring back, as if it too sense some almost supernatural connection. The elder man reached out with his hands toward the ebon furred lupine. It seemed to take a tentative step forward and the man could feel his heart almost burst with a strange joy.

"Kevin!"

A youthful voice called out and the wolf looked away from the older man and bounded off towards the source of it without a moment of hesitation, disappearing back the way it had come, the spell of the man's presence seemingly broken.

The elder Morningstar felt illogically, irrationally moved by the chance encounter. Without knowing why, he suddenly found himself crying. Large, wet tears poured down his face and he found himself unable to stop. The man had no idea what made him do so, but quickly made his way back to his house. Once inside, he managed to collect himself, but he suddenly realized that he was no longer pained by his son's absence.

Six months later...

Back at the Morningstar estate, Mike was nursing a cup of warm apple cider and grumbling to himself. His father, a pale man, walked into the room.

"Good to have you home son. Anything interesting down in the village?"

Mike looked up at his father.

"Yeah. That Tennyson witch. The little one, Gwen. She had a black wolf with her, acted like it was her dog. But it wasn't it had to be-"

The elder Morningstar moaned and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, God, son. Not the werewolf story again,"

Mike's eyes blazed. It was and he knew it. He felt it.

"It was real! I saw it!" he cried defensively.

"Son, what you saw was a gypsy trick. They are full of wiles and all sorts of things. They'll try to trick you into anything . Believe me. I had my share of run ins with them when I was younger. I'm glad I got it out of my system. They are all showmen, tricksters and liars. That's all," he said, looking off into space as if recalling something from long ago,

Mike scowled.

"This wasn't. I could tell," he said flatly.

"Oh, for goodness sake Mike, why don't you ever let, pardon the pun, sleeping dogs lie?"

"Because it is real! Why doesn't anyone understand that? How can you rest knowing that...that monster is running around free?"

The elder Morningstar sighed.

"Even if it was real, did you ever stop to consider that it might not be the best idea to pursue it? If it was about doing evil, wouldn't we have heard about it by now? Maybe whatever it was just wanted to get away,"

Mike bit his lip. His father was right. It didn't feel right to the rich young man. None of it did. How could he explain how he had almost physically been drawn to the gypsy camp that night? How he had been called away from his dormitory, drawn by someone, something he had felt he needed to know? There wasn't any explanation. It didn't make sense, it had just happened. The younger Morningstar had wandered around until he had been attracted to a small scuffle on the outskirts. He saw three men grab a boy about his age. He saw the youngster feebly struggle against those stronger than him. Mike's heart had ached terribly, all of a sudden, as if a part of him was being injured. But that was impossible. He had nothing to do with these lowlifes. They weren't worth his feelings. They were like animals. To prove this to himself, he gladly paid the astronomical fee the underhanded showman had presented. He'd sat himself down and watched. He'd watch them drag the other boy in.

Mike had found himself conflicted in a way he never had before. On one hand, he loved the gruesome and the macabre scene which had been promised. On the other, he felt a strange attachment to this boy he had never seen before. He hated the way those brown, panicked eyes had looked at him, as if begging for help. He'd stared back icily. When the boy had somehow managed to struggle free, Mike had been sure to trip him and prevent his escape. That made him smile. It made him happy to know that he had undone this connection. Now, the little lowlife dog would suffer as he should. It was ridiculously entertaining. He reveled in the fact that it was his intervention that had both prevented the captive's escape and proven to himself the connection was meaningless. These scum weren't worth his time worrying about...and it was a wonderful, painful show they put on...until someone had decided to touch the object of their torment. Then everything had become a chaotic mess and the inhuman wretch had disappeared into the rising sun.

No.

He had no desire to tell his father any of that.

"It just isn't right. That thing running around out there,"

It isn't right because he still felt it. He wanted it to go away, this phantom link between himself and that...that...thing.

His father shook his head.

"Son, you really should stay out of those lowlifes' affairs. When I was younger I...had a few run ins I'd rather not remember. I think it would be wise if you learned from my mistake,"

It had been more than sixteen years since he'd left the girl in the snow. He'd denounced and rejected her, yet there wasn't a single day that went by that he didn't think of her. Didn't wonder what had ever become of the child she had been carrying. If it had been his and if it had been wrong of him to do such a thing. It had weighed heavily on his mind and had prematurely aged him.

On the other hand, it had caused him to lavish untold attention on Mike, lest something ever come of the whole mess. His wife had never asked about any previous relationships and he was grateful for that. He would have hated lying to her.

Mike huffed and left the room, leaving the old man to himself.

His father was an idiot. He didn't, couldn't understand what Mike felt and how it unnerved him. He didn't know what it was like to be so sure of his own superiority, and then have it come crashing down around him because of one single_ subhuman_ curiosity.

He hated it. He hated it so much that he would kill to be rid of it.

Screw the people and the money. All he wanted was to be rid of it once and for all so that this peculiar, nagging empathy would be silenced once and for all.

...

Gwen and Kevin arrived back at Verdona's cottage with their daily earnings and collections. The sun was dipping low over the horizon and the full moon was already peeking over the hill.

"You go get dressed. I'll meet you out back in a few minutes," Gwen said, smiling.

Kevin cocked his head before bounding to his usual spot in the storeroom. Gwen smiled and put her things away. She turned around, hearing her grandmother enter the room.

Verdona looked oddly solemn.

"What is it Grandma?" Gwen asked.

"Kiddo, you really love that fuzzball, don't you," she asked kindly.

Gwen blushed slightly at her grandmother's use of the term "love", but nodded anyway.

"Well, I've...I've been meaning to tell you something about him that I've known for awhile,"

Gwen felt her chest grow tight. The way her grandmother was talking, it didn't sound like it was a very good thing.

"He...he was born the way he is. He was cursed even before he was born. That magic is a part of him. It will be forever. I...I can't break the curse completely...not without endangering his life," the older witch said, sounding defeated.

Gwen sighed.

"So he's.."

"He's going to be the way he is now forever...for the rest of his life," Verdona said defeatedly.

"Well, that isn't so bad. I don't mind him the way he is now. That's the 'him' I like," Gwen said.

Just then, she heard the back door open and close. Without another word, she quickly made her way to the back door and outside.

She looked around, hoping Kevin hadn't run off in a fit of anger at what Verdona had said...if he had heard her...or...if he had heard what Gwen said and that had troubled him in some way. She hoped he didn't have any of those annoying "I'm not good enough for you" issues pecking at his mind.

Fortunately, she saw him just off in the distance.

Kevin sat on a large rock a little down the path from Verdona's cottage. He was easy to pick out. He was usually there at any given time, day or night if he was not with either of the witches. He'd just stare off into the trees as if he half expected someone to come out of them, like he was waiting for someone. Today however, his interests were elsewhere.

He looked up at the large silver sphere in the sky thoughtfully.

Gwen sat down next to him.

"It sure is beautiful up there, isn't it,"

"Yeash," he agreed.

Gwen smiled.

Few words, as usual.

"Kevin. Did you have family before...you know you came to stay with us?" Gwen asked. She didn't want to come out and ask him about her grandmother's revelation immediately, she didn't want him to think she was spying on him.

Kevin nodded.

"Do you miss them?" Gwen asked.

Kevin pondered this for a minute.

"Sometimes. I mean, I miss my mom. My grandma died a few years before I left. So there's only one person for me to miss," he said.

"What about your dad? Do you miss him?" Gwen inquired.

Kevin frowned than and Gwen wished she had not said anything.

"I never knew my father. My mom loved him a lot, though. Whenever she'd talk about him, she'd only say good things. I could never figure out why, 'cause he was never there for her. He left her for someone else. That was pretty low. It was like she...and I, I guess, weren't good enough for him,"

"I'm sorry to hear that. Did he leave before or after you were born?"

"Before. Way before. I don't look like him, though. I look more like Mom and her family, except for this. I'm pale as a ghost," Kevin said, tapping his forearm.

"Well, I think that comes from not being in the sun very much, personally," Gwen said.

Kevin cocked his head to the side. He did that a lot during the day. It was his body language for "What do you really want?"

Gwen sighed.

"Did you hear what Grandma said?" Gwen asked.

" 'Bout what?" he questioned nonchalantly.

Gwen gulped.

"You," she said.

Kevin rolled his eyes.

"When?" he asked.

"Now...she said.." Gwen started.

"I'll always be what I am," Kevin finished.

"Yeah," Gwen commented.

"That's okay, isn't it?" Kevin seemed to ask her specifically.

"Is it okay with you?" Gwen asked.

Kevin smirked.

"It had better be,"

Humor. He was getting a lot better at it. Two years with the witches had made him more open, more willing to experiment with language, opportunities not to be mocked and laughed at, opportunities to fail, but not be ostracized.

"I'm serious. Is it okay with you? Does it bother you?" Gwen asked.

"Nah. Not really. I mean, I know this must sound ridiculous, but I don't really know any other way to be. It isn't like, I dunno, I was normal and then got cursed into it. It isn't that bad to me. Is it bad for you?"

The last question was tentative, open and wondering, nervous, even. It was in complete contrast in tone to the rest of his speech.

Gwen suddenly felt very exposed and under pressure. He was asking her directly about himself. This was important. Their future together would be determined by her response.

She shook her head.

"No. It is not bad, just different. Different is fine," Gwen said, taking his hand reassuringly and smiling.

"You...you said you didn't ever want me to change...that you liked me as I was," Kevin said, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

"I meant it," Gwen said, feeling much more relaxed and sure of herself, it seemed as though saying it out loud, more importantly, out loud to him, made herself more positive of it.

"But...I don't know. I can't ever give you what you deserve..I mean...I,"

Gwen put a finger on his lips.

"Maybe not in your mind. But you can give me everything I need. You are helpful, you keep me safe, keep me company. You tell good jokes and you make me laugh. I just like being around you. I like to run through fields on sunny days and curl up by the fire on cold nights. You're always there and regardless of which form you are in, it feels the same to me. You might not think so, but there's a lot to be said for all those things, you know? That's what makes me happy. You make me happy. I want you to stay here with me, just as you are," she said.

Kevin flushed and looked at his feet.

Speechless.

Gwen smiled.

She edged closer to him, picking up his arm and placing it it around her shoulder and he left it there. Gwen felt so protected, so safe just being next to him. Without another word, she reached a hand to his face and turned his head toward hers and kissed him on the lips, softly at first, so as not to startle him too horribly, then a little more forceful to prove her point. To her great relief and joy, she found him returning it.

Until he stopped suddenly.

Gwen opened her eyes and saw a look of shock and horror on his face. Before her, his form had begun to shift, thick black fur emerged from his flesh and Gwen, not forgetting her promise from two years ago, quickly closed her eyes, but reached out with her hands. He was shorter now, she could feel the top of his head and the two pointed ears on top of it. He was fighting to stand up, she could tell from the way he was quaking.

"Kevin, it is alright," Gwen said, feeling tears prick at her eyes under her closed lids.

When at last she felt his movements cease, she eased her eyes open.

There was Kevin as he looked during the day, never the night of the full moon.

Kevin himself was frantic, his mind rushed and it was difficult to make any kind of coherent thought. Panic, despair, and anxiety all pulled at his mind with equal vigor.

_No! No, No, No! I'm never like this on night's like tonight! Does this mean I'm stuck like this? I don't get it!_

His thoughts were jarring, disjointed and panicked. The wolf boy's ears flattened against his head and his tail was between his legs. He whimpered and looked around sharply. But Gwen was there. She was there to be reassuring, supporting, and loving.

Gwen hugged his neck. He felt her warm breath through his fur and her soft, yet strong arms around him and he felt calmer.

"It is alright. We'll figure things out. Don't worry. I'm here! We'll fix this! Everything is going to be alright," she said, trying to sound comforting but feeling a little uneasy herself.

"You're right, Gwen. Everything is going to be alright,"

A third voice entered the mix.

Gwen gasped and Kevin growled low and dangerous in his throat.

There stood Mike Morningstar, in all his golden glory. His clothes were extremely fine, denoting both his family and social rank, yellow gold imported fabric. He had perfect skin and hair, perfectly cruel icy blue eyes.

And he was holding a gun.

"Just step out of the way, Gwen. I'll make it quick. The thing won't suffer more than necessary. I'm not cruel like some people. I just want to put him out of his misery. Honestly, what kind of life is a half life like his anyway?"

"His life is his own...and it is mine! I suggest you go home before you do something you regret, Mike Morningstar!" Gwen shouted.

Mike laughed.

"You can't shelter a murderer. It would make you an accessory,"

"He's not a murderer! Those people didn't have any right to do what they did! It was an accident, I'm sure," Gwen said, determined and sincere.

"Of course...it was only an accident that he not only broke the man's arm but bit it off as well. I saw it with my own eyes Gwen, he's a monster. Looks like this mongrel gypsy dog has the little witchie poo under his spell and you're just blinded by your misguided pity to see that," Mike whimpered sarcastically.

Without another word, Kevin leapt forward, snarling. His eyes burned with a fury Gwen had never seen before. For a moment, only a moment, she wondered if what Mike had said was true...but no...no! She had seen Kevin's thoughts with her own mind. He wasn't a cold blooded killer! He had been frightened, trapped...he'd lashed out.

Kevin heard Gwen shouting at him to stop, then some form of magic incantation. He couldn't tell which, his ears were ringing with rage.

Mike shot his weapon and Kevin felt the bullet fly past him and into a thicket behind him.

The wolf boy quickly dipped down and sprung up, a flurry of claws and fur. Mike fired again, this time grazing Kevin's ear. Those blazing blue eyes seemed to bore right through him.

"Remember me, freak?" Mike asked quietly.

Kevin slashed with his claws, Mike simply hopped back with grace and the wolf boy hit the ground. Kevin growled again. Of course he did. How could he forget the one who tripped him?

"Good. I'd do it again. I'd even bring your little witchie poo with me and we can all see a wonderful show together," Mike said, laughing cruelly.

What he didn't know was that Kevin knew what he was doing. He was trying to upset the wolf boy and his prey knew it. That did not make it easier to bear.

Without another moment's hesitation, Kevin leapt up at his attacker and seized his wrist in his jaws, not pressing hard, just grabbing.

_If you ever touch her, I WILL kill you!_ Kevin thought, his brown eyes glaring at the golden haired boy's.

_Let go of the damn gun and leave us alone and I won't shred you! I don't want to! I never wanted to! I just wanted to live!_ the wolf boy tried to reach his enemy, but his words were unheard.

Kevin saw fear well up in Morningstar's eyes and the young man did a very foolish thing. He tried haphazardly to aim the gun at Kevin. He fired the gun, but the bullet hit the ground and ricocheted off a stone. Kevin bit down hard, causing Mike's hand to fly open, dropping his gun.

Mike screamed. It was a terrible, blood curdling sound.

Kevin promptly let go and leapt back to Gwen. Still. their attacker kept screaming.

_Come on! I didn't even bite him that hard...just enough to get him to let go of the gun! _ Kevin's mind commented.

"I know! I saw!" Gwen said.

Kevin flicked his ears.

_You can hear me? Really? Now?_ he thought, questioningly.

"Yeah. I've been working on my thought reading spells," Gwen said.

_Oh._ Kevin's wolfish face pulled into a smile, but that was short lived. Mike was still screaming and cradling his injured hand.

"You bastard! You filthy mongrel! What did you do to me?" his frantic, strained voice demanded.

Gwen huffed.

"He gave you what you deserved! Honestly! Stalking around private property with a loaded firearm? What were you thinking? That's crazy! Do you know how many laws you just broke?"

Her further scoldings died on her tongue when she noticed golden fur sprouting from Mike's cradled hand. The holes left by Kevin's teeth were bubbling with blisters, as if they had been scorched by acid. Claws were curling forth from his fingertips. Gwen's breath caught in her throat and she stumbled backwards.

Kevin saw it too and he leapt in front of her.

_I thought your grandma told you it wasn't contagious!_ Kevin thought.

"It wasn't! It has to be something else! It has to be!" Gwen shouted.

_What else could it be?_

"I don't know. It isn't you! That is for certain!" Gwen insisted.

Mike screamed horribly, his voice torn ragged by the ravages of his transformation. Gwen stared in dumb, disbelieving horror. Dear god, was this what Kevin had lived through his whole life? Gwen gasped and whimpered. It looked so terribly painful. It had to make one feel helpless.

The golden wolf stood before them, its clothes hanging off of it like torn rags. Its blue eyes glared at them with hate and malice.

_I'll kill you._

Both Kevin and Gwen heard it in their minds. It was a disdainful, certain statement. Without repeating itself, the golden wolf flew at them with a mad rush fueled by mindless hate. Gwen shouted a quick incantation and the maddened creature hit an invisible wall in front of her. Snarling, it banged against her shield mercilessly, causing itself immense pain in the process.

_He's crazy!_ Kevin thought.

"You said it! Except now he''s crazy and has a mouthful of razor sharp teeth!" Gwen squealed.

_He's also dangerous, Gwen. Dangerous to you, specifically._ Kevin noted darkly.

"Yeah...but I'm a witch and you are here," Gwen said brightly.

Kevin blushed under his fur, but knew she was right and inwardly smiled.

_I can handle this guy. You just stay put behind this shield._

"But I can't cast spells to help you outside the field while I am in here!" Gwen protested.

_I've got it covered._

"Don't be so sure. He looks pretty tough to me," Gwen commented.

Kevin leapt from the safety of the shield

The two wolves tore at each other. Claws slashed and teeth flashed. Little bits of black and gold fur flew through the air and landed on the ground. A splatter of blood hit the surface of Gwen's pink bubble, but she couldn't tell whose it was. The two of them moved so quickly that all she saw were streaks of black and gold. Their snarls and yelps filled her ears. Those she could tell apart. She could hear a lot more Kevin yelps than Mike yelps and that worried her, Mike was fighting to kill. Kevin wasn't. If he really wanted to, he could have torn Mike's throat out, but he didn't. He wasn't trying to kill his enemy, just stop him. His dark fur hid a lot of his small wounds, but there was a large, obviously damp spot near the back of his neck.

He shook himself off, but the golden wolf was on him again. It seized him by the ruff of his neck and flipped him over, slamming Kevin into the ground. It did so again and again, battering the smaller wolf without mercy. Kevin kicked at his attacker and managed to force himself loose. In an instant, the golden wolf leapt at him again, but never sank its teeth into its target.

A shot echoed out and the golden wolf fell to the ground with a whimper. Blood gushed out of its wounded shoulder. It tried to stand, but crumpled to the ground and gave a mournful howl of defeat. Kevin righted himself and limped to Gwen's side. The witch deactivated her pink force field and immediately began casting simple healing spells. Most of the wounds were small bites and scratches. They healed quickly. However, there were several wounds that would take weeks to completely heal.

A twig snapped and both Kevin and Gwen looked up to see Verdona arriving with the elder Morningstar, who held a large hunting rifle. Kevin raised his ears in interest. This man was oddly familiar to him. The man seemed to have the same feeling, for he kept staring at the wolf boy, just the same. Still, Kevin leaned on Gwen and made no move to approach the stranger.

"Where are your clothes?" Gwen asked him.

_What? _Kevin thought, taken aback by her question.

"They're not on the ground or anything. Where are they? I wasn't looking when you changed," she said.

_I don't know! It is like they just disappeared! _He thought.

As he spoke, the sun began to peek over the hill and golden light. Gwen heard the injured golden wolf yelp in sudden pain and the creature writhed as its body twisted back to its original shape. Kevin on the other hand seemed to simply flow back to his human self..with his clothes intact. It didn't hurt, either. It wasn't even unpleasant. It was a minor, momentary discomfort, as if his whole body had pins and needles.

"Well, that's new," he commented lightly.

Gwen eased him up and the two began to walk towards Verdona.

Kevin felt a hand pulling on his pant leg. He looked down and saw Mike weakly struggling to hold his head up. He looked terrible. His eyes were sunken and he was covered with little scratches and cuts. The young man's fine clothes were torn to shreds and he shivered in the chill of the morning air.

"Kill me," Mike whispered, looking into Kevin's brown eyes with his own arctic blue ones.

Kevin scowled and roughly pulled his leg free.

"No," he said simply.

The rich young man had a look of panic on his face.

"You...you have to! Look what you've done to me! Look what a disgusting thing I've become! No one will have me now! Please! Please, kill me! It would be better that way!" he begged, sounding pathetic.

"It isn't so bad," Kevin said casually.

"Not so bad? Maybe to you it is 'not so bad', but you were never more than some gypsy mongrel to start with!" Mike snarled up at him.

"Take your son home, Mr. Morningstar. Make sure he stays out of trouble," Kevin said, turning his back on Mike.

He managed to take a few steps before a bolt of pain flew up his left side. He started to crumple, but Gwen caught and supported him.

"Easy," she reassured him gently.

"You can't just leave me here! Take responsibility for what you've done!" Mike shrilly yelled after him.

"An excellent idea. Mr. Morningstar, if you please, keep this son out of trouble. If you had been responsible all those years ago in the first place, none of this would have happened. Now you'll just have to deal with reality as best you can," Verdona said, her eyes never leaving the rich man. The elder Morningstar looked at her with a puzzled expression, but the witch turned and followed the younger two home.

So life continued as it had, albeit with some modifications, for another few months. Life at Verdona's cottage was relatively peaceful, save for the occasional mournful howl that drifted through the trees on certain nights. The three worked together to build up the magic business and with their joint efforts, their fame began to spread.

One day, there was a timid knock out the door.

Verdona quickly opened it. On the other side was a very disheveled woman.

"Is this the cottage of the great witch, Verdona?" she asked quietly, as if the didn't have enough power to even speak.

Verdona nodded.

"Yes. It is. How may I help you?"

"I'm sorry. The sign out front said 'Wolf and Witches', so I had to be sure I was in the right place. Please...please I need your help. I'm looking for someone. I don't even know if he's still alive...but even if he isn't, I have to find him. I can't stand not knowing anymore,"

The dark skinned woman seemed terribly distraught. Verdona invited her in for tea to discuss her fee. A good witch never did anything for free.

"Who are you looking for?" Verdona asked.

"My son. He...he ran away two years ago. There was a terrible accident. I waited for him to come back. When he didn't I started saving for money so that I could go searching for him. Please, I need to find him. He's not like other people. It makes him harder to find. A number of charmers have already tried and failed. There isn't much money left, but this is what I have,"

The coins she dropped on the table were more than enough for the service she required. Verdona flushed. The other charmers had scammed her. They had taken more money for inferior magic. The old witch reached over and took one of the smaller coins.

"This will be more than enough," she assured the woman.

Verdona went about gathering all the necessary scrying materials. She handed her customer a crystal and bade her to think very hard about the person he wanted to find. She did so and in an instant, it began to glow.

"Hmm..it's not supposed to do that unless-" Verdona started.

In an instant, the door swung open and Gwen burst in with a basket full of herbs and fungi.

"Sorry I'm late, Grandma Verdona. Someone had to prove he could jump over the stream," she said, jokingly.

Kevin stepped in behind her, the seat of his pants was obviously damp.

"Hey, I made it didn't I?" he laughed.

"Yeah...before you fell backwards...into it," Gwen giggled.

"Hey! You know I-"

Now Kevin stopped because he saw who exactly was at the witch's table.

"Mom?" he asked.

Gwen gasped. Now that she looked at her grandmother's visitor, she could clearly see their similarities.

"Kevin...Kevin my boy...," she managed to stammer before hurling herself at him. She squeezed him tightly and sobbed into his shirt.

"Mom, listen...I,"

"I don't care. I don't care what you did. I was so worried about you...that you'd been shot or trapped or something. I was so scared that if you came back, they'd kill you! I knew something terrible must of happened and I worried about you so much. But...look at you! How did this happen?" she asked, gingerly tucking an out of place tuft of hair behind his ear.

Kevin shrugged.

"I can explain that. You see, due to Kevin's unique symbiosis with the curse he is under, it is impossible to break. However, under the right conditions, it is entirely possible to alter it," Verdona said smiling.

"Alter?" his mother asked.

Kevin nodded.

"Yeah...it is..ah, a little more traditional now. Not that I mind!" he quickly defended.

His mother just stared at him, smiling with tears in her eyes.

"You speak so well now. You must have learned so much more than I could teach you,"

Kevin shifted uncomfortably.

"You taught me a lot, Mom," he reassured her.

"Will you come home with me?" she asked.

Kevin froze. Gwen saw him stiffen and he looked from Gwen to Verdona to his mother to Gwen again. Gwen herself felt butterflies beat against the inside of her stomach as she waited for his reply.

"I...I can't Mom," he concluded.

"Don't worry about the others. We'll explain everything,"

"No, Mom. That's not it. I don't want to go home because...I found a new one," he said uneasily, "I don't belong there anymore. I belong here. With her. I love you, but I'm not going back with you," he said pointing at Gwen.

Gwen turned scarlet. Inside, she was terribly happy, but also terribly self-conscious. Mostly happy.

Kevin's mother smiled knowingly.

"I don't believe you are, my son," she said softly.

"I'll come visit you, though. Gwen and me both will," Kevin promised.

"Gwen and 'I'," corrected Verdona.

Kevin rolled his eyes.

"I know you will," his mother said, hugging him again,"My boy, you've grown up so much,"

"Stay with us for dinner, won't you? We've all got stories you'd love to hear," he encouraged.

"I'd love to," she answered.

"Excellent! Then business is settled. Gwen dear, close that door. Lord knows what kind of magic leaks out with it open like that," Verdona mumbled.

The older witch pulled Kevin's mother away and the two of them started talking. She felt Kevin's large hand squeeze her shoulder and his lips give her a slight peck on the cheek.

Gwen smiled.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"For helping me end the story," he answered.

Gwen stood on her tiptoes and rubbed her nose against his in a playful eskimo kiss.

"How does the story end?" she questioned.

Kevin cocked his head.

"Why, happily ever after, of course. But not in that boring way that most stories do," Kevin said with a raised eyebrow and a sheepish grin.

"That is so cheesy," she giggled.

Kevin shrugged. Gwen pulled his collar closer to her.

"I like cheesy, wolf boy," she answered sweetly and gave him a gentle kiss as she pulled the door shut.

The End


End file.
